


Free Throw

by Roserosierosy



Category: ATEEZ (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Basketball, Bottom Park Seonghwa, Enemies to Lovers, Eventual Smut, FLUFF but only if you squint, Hongjoong is a showoff, M/M, Masturbation, Nationals, One Shot, PWP, Seonghwa's friends hate him in a loving way, Slight anger issues, Smut, Top Kim Hongjoong, everyone else is younger, handjobs, injuries, seonghwa and Hongjoong are the same age, seonghwa is too competitive, slight angst but not really, wooyoung and san are best friends, yeosang is a little shit
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-27
Updated: 2021-01-27
Packaged: 2021-03-18 08:34:19
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 14,239
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28989312
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Roserosierosy/pseuds/Roserosierosy
Summary: park seonghwa and his team win the semi finals and are on their way to nationals to compete on some of the biggest courts they will ever see. enter kim hongjoong and his team, also seemingly having advanced and will be present at nationals. their long rivalry with each other is vicious to the point where seonghwa will push himself too far to make sure he beats the other.
Relationships: Kim Hongjoong/Park Seonghwa
Comments: 6
Kudos: 100





	Free Throw

**Author's Note:**

> not beta read at all and omg this took forever, hope y'all enjoy it :) lower case intended

many hours of practice and dedication had lead them to this moment. it's this moment in every athlete's career when all those early morning practices and late night gym sessions finally felt like they had purpose and meaning. the screaming from the fans and many proud moms was just soft white noise in comparison to the overly loud buzzer that no one had even bother to shut off after the clock counted down to 00:00. The pounding sound of his heart was deafening in his ears as seonghwa, nearly ready to pass out from the lack of oxygen in his lungs, walked over in disbelief to the dog pile his teammates had created on top of yeosang who had managed to swish the final shot to win the game with just seconds left on the clock. He wiped the dripping sweat from his face and lunged at the big lump of people who were screaming and crying as they spasmed together on the floor and fell right on top of whoever was on top at the moment. 

no one complained about the weight or the lovely body odor that each seemed to have a terrible case of, just random shouts of joy and emotion filled the gym with the continuous clapping and praises from both team's viewers. seonghwa felt himself moved with sudden tears in his eyes, squished between mingi and his other teammates as they all cried together in pure joy. 

it was finally back in the locker room that everyone had settled down, the other team had already packed up and left pretty quickly, their own coach having nothing much to say but a quick "you did well" and a "you almost had them. you should be proud of yourselves" and everything else that would have made seonghwa's blood boil if it was him in that situation. they sat on the benches, towels around their shoulders, except for mingi and wooyoung who had made theirs into a a weird looking hat to place on top of their heads, laughing at each other at how weirdly the other looked while yeosang shook his head in disbelief. 

"well boys, I hope you understand what this win means for us," their coach said as he walked into the locker room along with the assistant coach and their helpers that kept the stats for each player. they all had huge smiles on their faces with a rather jumpy gait. 

"we're going to nationals!" wooyoung jumped up and swung his towel around over the top of his head. the entire basketball team erupted with him, jumping up and down and shouting while spraying water everywhere. the adrenaline was still shot in everyone, no one had managed to calm down yet, even yeosang was right up with wooyoung, his arm slung over his shoulder as they danced around the room leading a winning chant. 

"alright, alright everyone let's calm down, we have some statistics to go over before you smelly bunch can hit the showers and get some rest tonight." It took a few moments for the boys to settle down before their coach went up over to the whiteboard on the wall and started laying out pieces of information for the athletes to consider. 

"I think we should first address our savior tonight, with only five seconds left on the clock and the crazy tall post trying to block their shot, I would like to take this moment to congratulate yeosang for getting us here with that amazing last second shot you had. I don't know how you did it kid but I think it's fair to say you're the mvp tonight," and with that, the game ball that was nestled under the coach's arm was passed to yeosang who caught it with both hands and wide eyes. the locker room erupted again with cheers and shouts as every took turns slapping their teammate on the back. 

it was true, seonghwa was worried about playing this team because of how ridiculously tall they were, especially their post players. it wasn't fair on multiple levels, they had really struggled in the first half with hardly scoring any points. The half time break had been a tough one on them mentally, their coach giving them an earful about how timid they were playing. seonghwa had even taken it upon himself to speak up, backing his coach up explaining to his team that this was his last year playing for the university and everyone was playing so soft because just how imitating the other team was and to put it simply, it was pathetic. he had to tell them that they had practiced so hard for the past few months to even just be here, and they were all throwing it away and that if they even wanted to have a shot at getting to nationals they needed some people to step up and start playing better. his words were definitely harsh and the way he towered over them, as they were all sitting down, managed to make them all feel guilty but nod their heads in understanding and a new found fire to perform better. there was a reason seonghwa was the captain, he always knew what to say to get them in a better mindset, at least that's what his friends told him and the real reason may or may not be because he simply was scarier than anything they would see on the court. 

"yeah but we should also give seonghwa credit for passing me the ball in the only spot I could really shoot, any other place and it would've been too tough of an angle to take," yeosang spoke up, smacking a lovely five star into the other's back. seonghwa shot him a look of pain but then a smile made it's way to his face and he shook the other's shoulder.

"only the best for our team's future captain." 

the rest of the meeting went by in a flash, no one really listening to the stats of the game, they could look at that later when they were home refueling their bodies with much needed food. the coach wrapped up the rest of it and once again congratulated them on the win that no one thought they would ever see. they were no doubt the underdogs here, but it was seonghwa's soul mission in life to disappoint everyone in that way. he loved beating teams that were the favorite to win, it was what fueled him most times to keep going. the team finished packing up their bags and some of them stayed back to take a shower there instead of waiting to get back to where they were staying. the hot water really was a blessing to his aching joints, he was in pretty much the entire game, expect for being subbed out for a few minutes in fear of him fouling out. but besides that, he was their best defender, never really was good at offense but was killer in defending their basket. he was always paired with their strongest offensive player and this one just had to be extremely fast and a great shooter. it took all of his skills and energy to shut him down and he knew he was going to sleep so well tonight. he washed his hair and body quickly, getting rid of the cooled sweat that coated his body while he grimaced every time he had to move his bare feet against the floor of the shower, he will never forget shower shoes ever again. 

after he turned off the water and dried off his body, his arms started aching with every movement they made to pull over a clean tshirt, shorts and to his relief, shoes. 

"hyung," seonghwa turned to see yeosang sitting on the bench, drying his own blonde hair off before tying it back in the ponytail he had earlier. seonghwa smiled at him and zipped up his bag and slung it over his shoulder as he walked to the other. "you played amazing today, it was really something to look up to." 

"just my love for the sport, you really should be proud of yourself too you know, we won today because of you," seonghwa replied, smacking the other lightly on his head. 

yeosang slung his own bag over his shoulder and tucked the ball under his arm as both of them made their way out and back to the court to head out. the gym was finally empty except for the cleaning crew coming through to mop off the floor. they stood behind the basket and were silent for just a moment before the smaller spoke up.

"have you ever been to nationals?"

"no I haven't," seonghwa answered, "a first time for everything."

again there was silence, but it was a comfortable silence. neither of them were loud, unlike wooyoung and mingi who could never shut their mouths, they were just okay standing in each other's presence enjoying the relieving and happy feeling they both were experiencing. 

"how's your ankle?" yeosang said, but his voice was soft and more hushed than normal. seonghwa pressed his lips into a fine line as he felt his eyes roll just a little before turning back to the other.

"it's fine, it doesn't hurt anymore," he answered plainly.

seonghwa would never admit that it happened, but during the end of the game, he was crossed when he was guarding his opponent, and due to his utter fatigue, he must've rolled his ankle just a bit (or a lot). their coach had called a time out right after to discuss a new play to have them try to open up the other team's defense, it was then that yeosang had noticed seonghwa nearly limping over and asked him if he was okay which of course he responded that he was and carried on with the game. yeosang knew that the other was extremely prideful and wouldn't admit to something like that happening to him, but he also knew that they wouldn't have won if he was taken out then. 

yeosang didn't respond to that, he knew it was not the case but knew better than to push seonghwa.

"do you think they won?" even without the mention of a name, seonghwa already knew who exactly he was talking about. he shifted his stance and felt his blood boil just at the mere thought of the other. 

"doesn't matter if they did or not, it's not like I care."

"you've been following their record ever since our season started. we aren't even in the same league."

seonghwa didn't respond, but he did sigh heavily when yeosang pulled out his phone to check the standings with the other teams. he watched his face carefully for any hints of anything, but his heart dropping when he saw his pupils dilate. 

"they won, 97-52..." he said softly, not daring to look up at the older. seonghwa couldn't decide whether he was upset or thrilled at the news. he knew deep down they would win, they nearly always went to nationals and were always picked as the favorite to win. if they both were going to nationals that means there would be a good chance they would play each other and that idea made seonghwa both sick to his stomach and made fire burn through his veins. 

seognhwa swung his arm over the younger and pulled him close to him and started walking towards the exist. 

"doesn't matter, that fucker's journey will end when we play and beat them and that's all there is to it," he said in a sing-song voice, trying his best to appear as though the information wasn't bothering him as much as it already was.

"yeah sure hyung. and make sure you get some sleep tonight, don't review the tape so much, we have plenty of time before nationals," the younger spoke, jabbing his finger into seonghwa's side causing the other to shriek and kick him (with his good foot) back. 

"we have two weeks," he said flatly but put a smile back on his face because it really was a happy day and nothing was going to bring his mood down, not even some crummy person that he just so happened to know that he would do anything just to be able to smash his face in with a ball. "I did mean what I said earlier, about you being captain when I'm gone."

yeosang turned to him, the big smile on his face was gone but a smaller and more genuine one had taken it's place with the tilt of his head as he stopped walking, standing right in the middle of the exist of the building. 

"really? you mean that?" he asked.

"yeah, i do. I think you're the best future for this team," seonghwa answered, stopping right next to his friend. he'll blame the fact that they just won on him being a little over emotional.

"thanks hyung, that means a lot coming from you," his look was genuine. even though he was young, yeosang was an extremely hard worker. he had improved so much from when he first joined. even though he was on scholarship, at first no one knew why. it was because he was so quiet and didn't know anyone for the first year that people wondered if he was new to the sport all together. but especially now that he has bonded with people and grown into himself more, they all can see why he was on scholarship, the man was an incredible basketball player no doubt and he was just beginning to show what he was really capable of. 

seongwa looked back to the scoreboard that hadn't been cleared yet and took a deep breath. they had a lot of work to do. 

72-71.

that when he felt a ball knocking against his chest causing him to step back and wince just a little at the sudden movement and pressure. he twisted around quickly to see yeosang gather his ball back up and sprint off into the parking lot.

"yeosang you little shit--" seonghwa yelled before chasing after him.

~~~

seonghwa's team practiced for the next two weeks even harder than they originally had before the semi-finals. they barely managed to scrape away a win this last time and now they were going up against the hardest teams in the nation. while they all were so excited about qualifying, the nerves were starting to settle in, especially the night before they left. The last practice of the day left the boys on the hardwood of the gym floor gasping for air as their lungs burned so badly. one of the main focus points was to work on conditioning so they could play harder for a longer period of time before they burnt out, and it's safe to say after a teammate or two ran to the restroom right after they finished their last set of sprints, that coach did a good job conditioning them that day. 

it hurt to breathe as they laid in pools of their own sweat, not even seonghwa himself was disgusted by it, he just felt like he was fighting for his life at the moment. gasping for air and feeling very dizzy as he tried to sit up and hold his hands above his head to stretch his lungs. he looked over and saw mingi holding wooyoung's arms above his head as he clearly was having a harder time than the rest to catch his own breath. 

it took them a few moments to recuperate, but once they all did, coach had mercy on them and told them all to head back to their dorms to get some sleep before they flew out in the early morning. there was a chorus of 'thank you' from everyone as they wobbled back to the locker rooms to grab their belongings. seonghwa managed to pull his body up from the floor and put away the cart full of basketballs and thanked the assistants for wiping down the floors so he didn't have to. when he finally opened the door to the locker room, it was as dead as he had expected. everyone was exhausted and he was thankful they didn't play until another two days otherwise they would be screwed in this condition. 

"make sure everyone gets a good night sleep, and meet back in front of the gym at 6:30 early for a headcount before we head off to the airport," he announced, pulling his sweat soaked through shirt over his head to put on a fresher one.

another chorus of "yes captain" rang through the locker room as they started to go back one by one. soon it was just mingi and wooyoung left as they waited for seonghwa, they all were staying in the same dorm at the current moment so they walked each other home after every practice. 

"are you doing better now?" mingi asked wooyoung who finally had some color back in his face and was back to his overly cheerful attitude.

"much better now that I can breathe, I thought coach was doing to kill us." 

"yeah well we needed to work harder at it if we don't want to embarrass ourselves," seonghwa added, putting his court shoes away and sliding on his slides as he joined the others to walk back to their dorms.

"we know that, but still, it was hard hyung. I thought I was gonna puke all over the floor," wooyoung said softly, his smile had faltered off of his face as he looked at the older. seonghwa didn't say anything and kept his same expression on his face but lifted his arm and patted wooyoung's sweaty hair. they walked together in silence, thanking their coach for practice and sighed at the cool air that blessed them when they exited the building. usually mingi would complain about the cool of winter but no complaints were heard this time around. 

seonghwa scrunched his nose and eyebrows as they continued to walk, he looked down just a tad at his ankle which he knew was bruised. it was definitely getting worse. if he had taken a few days off to just ice it and take care of it, like yeosang told him too when they got back to campus then he might've been in a better situation now but there was no way he could catch up if he did. so here he was, trying his absolute best to not limp as badly as he was so his other friends wouldn't notice and question him about it. he just couldn't be hurt right now, he could worry about that after nationals. 

"ah hyung, I think you should know," mingi scratched the back of his head awkwardly as they pushed forward. seonghwa turned his attention to the taller. "we finally got the brackets today, coach sent them to us via email."

"have you checked them out yet? who do we play first?" wooyoung asked excitedly.

"doesn't matter who our opponent is, we will play the same against them as we would anyone," he muttered, wiping the stray sweat that was cooling off of his forehead and neck.

"I think you'd like to know this one though," mingi answered and gave his phone to seonghwa who grabbed it and zoomed in to see the writing. it wasn't his fault that the website made the print so damn small, the others would just like to make fun of him and call him old and said they'd buy him glasses on his next birthday. 

seonghwa stopped suddenly causing the other two to turn back and look at him in confusion. 

"what's wrong?" wooyoung asked, grabbing the phone from seonghwa's hand and looking for himself.

"oh.." he muttered softly giving the phone back to mingi and placing his hand on seonghwa's shoulder. "you'll beat him this time hyung. promise."

seonghwa pressed his lips together tightly for a moment before smiling softly at the younger and fluffed up his hair again with his hand. 

"you're right. we will. show him who's boss this time won't we."

they walked the rest of the way to the dorms talking about different things they talked about in practice and cleared up any misunderstandings about the plays they were to run. wooyoung ending up jumping on mingi's back when they approached the stairs, the elevator was very conveniently broken and no one had bothered to come by to fix it yet, so the sore athletes groaned their way up the stairs, with the exception of the smallest who was having the time of his life. when they got to seonghwa's room, they said their good nights and told him to not over sleep this time because they absolutely could not miss the plane.

"please it was one time I overslept, if anyone should be worried about oversleeping its you two," he shot back. mingi and wooyoung were roommates and had a habit of staying up doing only god knows what until the early morning hours and getting up way too late.

"we just like to tease you hyung, you're always so serious, lighten up," wooyoung jokes, jabbing his fingers into seonghwa's side causing him to jerk around and smack the other's hands away.

"I am not so serious," he scoffs, rather hurt that his friends think he is uptight. 

"I have to side with wooyoung on that one hyung, you've been so tense lately," mingi says and takes a cautious step back and pulls wooyoung with him. 

"I am not-- y'all are just ... extra." seonghwa fights back, grabbing his keys to unlock the door to his single and stands in the doorway. 

"sure hyung whatever you say, maybe rub one out for a change and relax. we'll kick hongjoong's ass on saturday don't worry!" wooyoung shouts out as mingi has already pulled him down the hall to go to their own room, making finger hearts with both his hands before he disappears around the corner leaving seonghwa there with his own words caught in his throat. 

"what--" he says way too late, a small fit of butterflies bubbling in his stomach as he just knew the walls were not thick what so ever here and all the neighbors just heard his best friend tell him to rub one out, like it was a normal conversation. he manages to close the door and lock it, shaking his head of his thoughts to clear his mind to calm his racing heart at the idea. dropping his bag immediatly at the door and sliding his slides off his feet and grabbing a protein bar from one of his boxes to snack on as he grabs his supplies and heads to his shower. turning the water on hot, knowing his poor muscles will thank him for it later, he leans against the sink and pulls up his ankle to slide off his sock and sucks in a breath. 

"fuck," he mutters softly and panics for a brief moment. his ankle looks way worse than what it had before practice. it was more blue than anything now, bruising down his foot and up his leg more. putting pressure on it definitely hurt terribly and now that the adrenaline had washed out of his system it hurt even worse. he thought for a moment that this could get really bad very quickly if he didn't take it easy for a moment to let it heal some more. he tore off all his clothes and then stepped into the burning hot water, flinching a bit and needing to turn it down a little before being comfortable enough to shower. he sighed heavily and dropped his head and let the water run over his shoulders and back, resting his forehead against the tiled wall. 

this really was terrible timing for an injury like this, he needed to be on his best game in order to even begin to compete with you know who. god he really hated his name, couldn't even say it when thinking in his thoughts. seonghwa started to wash his hair and soap up his body, the smell of the body wash definitely calming him down just a bit. it was now when he realized just how tense he was and on guard. relaxing his shoulders a bit and letting the hot water work its magic as he used his hands to massage his thighs out gently. he'd have to go to the trainer when he got back to have them roll him out properly before he pulls a muscle. it's when his mind drifts back to what wooyoung shouted at him earlier that has a soft blush make its way to his cheeks as he pulls his hands away from his body. 

maybe he should, it's definitely been a long time since he's done any sort of self care for himself, been too busy with his homework and making it to nationals that he's passed out as soon as his head hit the pillow. that briefly reminds him that he does need to email his teachers about him missing class tomorrow, a little late to do it but oh well. he stands still in the shower a little bit more, the water having washed away all the soap and shampoo finally as he stays there, leaned over, cheek pressed against the coolness of the tile. his mind considers it again, as he carefully runs his hand up along his thigh slowly, a soft bite to the lip as he does so. he looks down, water dripping off of his nose and he spreads his legs just a little. he can tell its already been too long at the fact that he isn't completely soft.

even just the idea of something happening has him going just a little. he runs his tongue over his lip and bites it once again as he runs is other hand down his chest and stomach, gently tracing the indents of the muscle there. he closes his eyes as he gently wraps his hand around himself, his mouth opening in a soft gasp at the touch and then swallowing thickly. he's not thinking of anything at the moment, just feeling how his hand glides rather perfectly up and down his cock. pushing his thumb into the head and circling it around as he squeezes his eyes shut and letting out a heavy and shaky breath. clearly it really has been too long. 

starting to flick his wrist on every upstroke, finding himself keeping a pace that is way too slow for his own liking but nearly drooling over just how good the drag feels. he hardly ever does this, and he's not very loud either which comes in handy since the walls are so thin. he's half hard within just a few moments, mouth still open just a little as he gasps every time his hand runs over his overly sensitive head. he shivers slightly as he digs his other hand into his thigh, nails breaking into the skin as his hand picks up its pace, leaving shivers of hot pleasure tingling down his spine and causing his head to tilt back. he's sure he looks rather pathetic right now, face probably red from how hot the water has gone (or from how hard he's blushing) to the soft sounds that keep coming out of his mouth, so uncharacteristic. he bites his lip hard at one particular harsh grip, barely able to suppress a moan that nearly forces it's way out of his throat and his eyes roll back just a little. his body feels so hot and wound up, the need to finish ever present in his desires. 

but it's when a very familiar face flashes inside his head that has him squeezing his cock harshly and a rather sinking feeling settling into his stomach that his mood is instantly ruined. he stands up straight and looks down as his hard dick and pouts at it, mad at himself for even thinking of such a man at this moment. he sighs angrily and switches the water to cold, mood ruined even farther as he stands in a now very cold shower. at least it will be good for his ankle, which he does make a mental note to grab ice for it after he's done with the shower.

~~~ 

it's by some miracle that they all, including wooyoung and mingi who no doubt had gotten out of bed five minutes before they absolutely had to leave, had gotten there on time. it was an even bigger miracle that they made it through the airport security and gotten breakfast to eat and were sitting at their gate with plenty of time to spare. being the suspicious person he is, seonghwa goes around all of his teammates and makes sure they have all of their gear and belongings, even triple checks himself. thankfully everyone has everything and all is right in the universe, which is a first. 

they all sit down and do their work on their laptops, expect for yeosang who had his head rested against seonghwa's shoulder as he sleeps lightly. he knows the younger probably didn't sleep well, he always struggled to sleep before big tournaments and this definitely was no different. 

the plane ride went peacefully, not a lot of turbulence, much to seonghwa's appreciation as he was able to finish a good portion of his homework and get some much needed rest. he woke up right before they had landed and had the joy of capturing wooyoung drooling all over Mingi's hoodie in a wonderful picture and video that he would use for blackmail later if the younger ever decided to cross him again. all their teammates grabbed their luggage after they exited the plane and made their way to load up the bus that would transport them to the hotel where they would be staying at for the next three days. everyone seemed absolutely excited and energized which was a great sign, seonghwa himself even felt pumped up, watching everyone getting hyped on the bus and playing music and singing along to it. he leaned his head back against the cushion and his mind brought back the extremely embarrasing memories that has gone on the night before. he slowly closed his legs and folded his hands over his lap and shook his head from the sickening thoughts. it could have been anyone else in the world and he would've been fine, but no, it just had to be him. 

the rest of the ride went smoothly, they arrived at the hotel maybe an hour later and as they all piled out they gasped at the huge hotel building in front of them that other teams had already been starting to gather in the lobby, and the even bigger stadium in the back where they would all play the following day. they had to wait quite awhile to get their room keys, but once they did and they got their roommates, the boys started to pile into their rooms. seonghwa grabbed his and his roommate's key from their coach and started to make his way towards the elevators to the ninth floor. 

out of the corner of his eye, he caught eye of just a sliver of blue hair. at that his heart sunk once again and he felt his heart start to race and he stopped and looked back to confirm what or who he had seen but as he did, there were too many people in the lobby and the person was lost in the sea of people.

"hyung?" his teammate called out to him.

"nothing sorry, let's go," he called back, shaking his head and scrunching his nose once more before piling into the elevator, scanning the busy room with his eyes once more but finding nothing. dare he say he was just a little disappointed, he was hoping to confront his enemy and size him up. 

he hadn't seen the other in many years, they were close to the same height when they played against each other in high school, but now seonghwa is much taller and bigger and wants to see how the other had grown into his own skin. 

later that night after they all settled in and had team dinner, they headed back to their rooms for the night. it's still very early in the evening and wooyoung rounded up mingi and yeosang to go bother seonghwa in the comfort of his own room. the smallest jumps on seonghwa's bed as the other shrieks.

"I just made the bed you turd-" he pushed wooyoung off the bed and tries his best to straighten everything out. 

"you're so weird..." he comments on the floor but quickly stands and leans against the wall. "we should go check out the gyms, maybe play around just a little."

"no way, we need to be well rested for tomorrow. we play early," seonghwa says and he fixes his pillows.

"boring. I mean just a little playing won't hurt, you always say it's good to make yourself familiar with the surroundings, its like home turf."

"this isn't one of your videos games, wooyoung."

"I'm not saying it is, im being serious here. it really wouldn't hurt to check out the place, there isn't anything else to do," he whines.

"well maybe you could sleep early for once and be prepared for tomorrow," he looks up at the other and crosses his arms. its then that yeosang steps in and backs wooyoung up.

"please seonghwa, I think it would be a good idea." he adds softly. 

seonghwa stares at the other blonde and then looks up at mingi who gives him a thumbs up. they all have their sports bag hanging over their shoulders and he knew they were going to go whether or not he came with them. and with this group, they needed a supervisor or one of them might come back dead and seonghwa did not need that right now. so instead of saying anything, he just sighed heavily and rubbed the bridge of his nose between his fingers before grabbing his bag and slinging it over his shoulder too. wooyoung shrieked and jumped up before nearly tearing the door off of it's hinges. 

on the way over to the giant stadium, all seonghwa can think about it the extreme pain in his ankle. he'd iced it as he slept the night before but he swore it only made it worse, the bruising was worse in the morning. walking now hurt like a bitch and he could feel his heartbeat in his ears and he started to fear what playing was going to be like. when they entered the building it was all gasps from everyone as they showed security their player bands so they could be granted access into the main courts. while the others were busy freaking out over how utterly huge the whole area was, four basketball courts lined up horizontally together and still plenty of room on the sides with so many seats surrounding them, all seonghwa could think about was just how bad it hurt to walk. he decided he definitely wasn't going to play at all tonight, and just watch the others mess around, he couldn't afford any accidents, not when he played hongjoong tomorrow. 

they had met freshman year of high school in a training camp for basketball before the season had even started, seonghwa wasn't completely new to the sport but he was definitely there for a reason. it's in his nature to pick the best person and try to learn off of them to get better and ultimately surpass them, that's how he learns so quickly. it just so happened that the best player happened to be kim hongjoong. seonghwa sooned learned that he was just a complete show off, clearly above the skills of everyone there as he dribbled so cleanly and effortlessly between all the defenders for a beautiful layup under the basket. seonghwa had been in awe the first few days but soon he started to get extremely jealous and resent the boy. they went to different high schools and would only play each other about two or three times a year, but every year seonghwa's team had lost and lost bad. as they got older, seonghwa finally started to get a bit better and by his junior year, he would even swing up to varsity to play there as well. hongjoong has become a starter on varsity that year and even then, still managed to whoop on seonghwa. they never talked to each other or even acknowledged each other's presence until the training camp of senior year. seonghwa had taken private lessons before then and made it his business to shut down hongjoong who clearly was one of the best in his age for point guard. it was finally when seonghwa had blocked his shot for the first time ever during that camp that hongjoong had jerked his head to him and stared at him for a long time. he never said anything to him and just walked away, but seonghwa nearly felt himself burst with excitement. it was from then on that the rivalry went both ways, they had it out for each other. the games started to become more one on one than anything else during the camp and his spite for the other grew thicker and thicker. he still hadn't won against hongjoong, even in their stupid one on one matches.

seonghwa will never admit it, but the reason he is the defender he is today is because of hongjoong. during his senior season, it was the closest game they ever had. hongjoong must've had a really off day because the score was within three baskets of each other. but that day was also when hongjoong decided he was a one man team, and acted like his teammates weren't even there. even when he was backed unto a corner on a press he refused to accept help and fought through it on his own. this utterly infuriated seonghwa. hongjoong was an amazing player and he was just wasting away his senior season like this? he had no right. 

"just pass the fucking ball!" seonghwa had ended up yelling when he stopped hongjoong right in his tracks.

"just shut up," he responded rudely. he was panting so hard and seonghwa knew the other was close to nearly passing out. what the hell was he doing? it made him so fucking mad. what was even worse that they lost that game too. seonghwa's team back then was never really that good, but hongjoong's was and that game never should've been that close in the first place. seonghwa could only imagine what his teammates were feeling. 

seonghwa really didn't plan to play basketball in university but he landed a pretty big scholarship at a division 1 school so of course he didn't pass up the opportunity. he knew hongjoong went on to play at another extremely competitive university and luckily they weren't in the same league. they only played each other total of three times in the past four years, seonghwa losing all three times. but it was different now, they weren't losing terribly anymore. he had an amazing team, one he would die for if he was honest. mingi was also on scholarship for the post position and cute little wooyoung was one of the best point guards he's seen besides hongjoong. of course not the mention yeosang and all of his other incredibly talented teammates. the games got closer and closer each time they played all three games were in his first year, he hadn't seen his rival in three years. seonghwa would be lying if he said he wasn't excited. he knew just how much they all improved, his own improvement was exponential since the last time he had seen him. not to mention how much he had finally grown and filled out, he was ready for the final game they would play and he would rather die than lose it to a selfish brat that only knew how to play on a one man team.

when they finished looking around the place, they sat down on one of the courts that had freshly been polished so the younger ones could put on their shoes to shoot around for a little and burn off enough energy so they could sleep well. seonghwa remained seated and watched them gear up, finding it rather adorable. the other end of the court was being occupied by four other players, but he didn't have the care to bother to look at them. it wasn't until wooyoung sprung up from the ground quicker than he normally would and bolted to the other side of the court that seonghwa whipped his head in his direction to watch him jump onto a player from the other side who had also been running at him. 

"san!" wooyoung screamed right before he had jumped onto the other man and they both collided on the floor hugging each other. seonghwa nearly jumped out of his chair and did his best to rush over to the scene to lean down and literally detach his best friend from this other man. when he finally had managed to pull wooyoung off of him he noticed something oddly familiar about this man.

"do I know you?" he asked as he let out his hand it try and help the other up. it was when the other man was standing up and looking at seonghwa that it hit him full force. and it hit him a moment too late before he had time to mentally and phsyically prepare himself. the man smiled widely and ran his fingers through his sweaty hair and for a moment the only word he could think of was "gorgeous". 

"holy shit its seonghwa-- hongjoong!" san turned around and cupped his hand to yell at the player on the other side of the court who had just managed to swish a three pointer and if it was any one else seonghwa would clap for and be impressed because damn what a shot, but no, this one possessed the iconic icy blue hair that made his stomach turn. 

the person in question turns around, and wipes his head with the back of his hand, the headband in his hair seemed rather illegal. he jogged over with a rather curious look in his eye and stood next to san, placing his arm on the other's shoulder and leaned against him. it was then that to seonghwa's pure pleasure that he realized the other had not grown much at all. he was in fact at least eyes above the smaller man. he stood taller, fixing his posture to be even just a little taller as he stared down at the other.

"seonghwa, long time no see," he said with a wide smile on his face, so patronizing. his voice was deeper too.

"not long enough." he said coldly, refusing to look the other in the eye.

"damn not even a hey?" he cocked his head to the side and laid his head on san's shoulder.

"why would I ? we aren't on friendly terms."

hongjoong gasped and put his other hand to his mouth like he was hurt. "still so rude."

"oh so im rude now?"

"okay okay, before world war three happens, how about a game?" san interrupted in, looking over at wooyoung with his eyebrows raised. 

"shit bet you're on!" he agreed all too quickly looking over at mingi and seonghwa expectantly. 

"jongho, yunho! come here!" san called over to the other two members and they trotted over quickly. seonghwa immediately noticed yunho's height, he wasn't on the team when he played them last and he clearly was sizing up mingi. jongho also was new, he looked incredibly young though so he didn't really have to worry much about him.

"absolutely not. we have to play early tomorrow. its time to go." seonghwa said and started to push at yeosang and mingi.

"still up tight too. never learned to have some fun either did you?" he heard him call out to him. 

seonghwa felt his blood boil as he turned around and stood right in front of hongjoong making sure to look extra tall as he stood over the smaller one.

"any good captain would know this is not a good idea, especially right before a big game like tomorrow," he said sternly.

hongjoong scoffed slightly and stood up a little taller and got in seonghwa's face, making him lean back a little.

"a good captain isn't a good captain unless their teammates respect them. how can they respect you if you back down from a harmless game?" he says so smoothly, his voice was so soft and deep and his face was so close to seonghwa's that he couldve seen the pores on the other's nose if he actually had them. "its not even a full game anyways, just four on four."

"unless you're too scared to lose again." 

seonghwa bit his tongue hard, probably drawing blood which he would lecture himself over for losing his cool so early on. he squeezed his hands into fists. "so your teammates respect you now? still play a one man game?" 

something flickered in his eyes, seonghwa could see a very faint shift of confidence in hongjoong but only for just a moment before he recovered. "a lot can change in three years. see it for yourself." 

seonghwa grabbed hongjoong's tshirt with his fist and pulled him up even closer getting right back in his face, close enough he could smell him. it annoyed him even more that the man smelled good, unlike the sweat that was covering his neck and face. "we'll beat your ass so hard you won't even wanna play us tomorrow."

"looking forward to it," the other smirked and backed away as seonghwa stormed off, going to change into his court shoes.

"hyung your ankle..." yeosang followed after him, clearly worried. seonghwa swore under his breath but continued to put on his shoes, lacing them up quickly. he winced as he jumped to his feet, ignoring yeosang's plea to just take it easy. 

"it's fine."

he finished with his gear and jogged back over to the group. san and wooyoung were happily talking and playing around with each other, and he forgot they were best friends in high school, or something more if you asked him. once he joined them he crossed his arms over his chest and looked around for what was going to happen.

"alright so a quick game to 10, my team against yours. we should get to go first because you caused such a scene," hongjoong looked directly at seonghwa, light smirk on his lips that made him what to smack it right off with a ball to his face.

"if you need the handicap just ask. let's get this over with," seonghwa replied, making his way over to the key, dusting off the bottom of his shoes to make sure they stuck nicely to the polished floor. the rest of the boys followed right behind them, all falling into the positions naturally with hongjoong starting at the top of the key. he held up the number four with his fingers and threw the ball to seonghwa. 

"check me," he held out his hands with a soft wink. seonghwa scowled at that, checking the ball back a little harder than he really needed to. he watch hongjoong dribble the ball down half court carefully. he radiated a new sense of confidence that was even intimidating to seonghwa, he carried himself and commanded that ball perfectly that once again made him jealous. he held up the number four with his fingers again and seonghwa smiled inwardly to himself. he knew exactly what that meant. when he came closer seonghwa moved up to stop him, moving back and forth at the top of the key with him. he did this play all the damn time in high school and in universiy, act like he would pass it but then just shoot it himself, completely selfish. so when hongjoong planted both of his feet on the ground and picked up his dribble, seonghwa immediately leaped into the air with both hands up to block the shot... only hongjoong didn't shoot, he passed the ball down to yunho. seonghwa landed and cringed heavily, his ankle did not like that at all, and on top of that he was embarrassed. mingi had yunho guarded too well in that moment so he threw the ball back up to hongjoong who had just magically appeared at the other side of the key, completely unguarded. he did some fancy ball handling shit to show off, that much hadn't change at least. seonghwa lunged at him with his right hand and foot, which was his bad ankle, to try and steal the ball from him. that would usually work if he had kept the ball to himself but no, he swung the ball down to jongho who had popped out to the three point line and shot it for a beautiful swish. 

san erupted with praise and jumped on Jongho's back and ruffled his hair up while seonghwa tried his best to walk back to his position without limping too badly. 

"hyung are you okay?" yeosang came up behind him and looked down at his ankle. seonghwa was no longer putting any pressure on his foot and just leaning on his left leg.

"I'm fine, but took me by surprise is all. the fucker," he said through gritted teeth. he squeezed his eyes shut for a moment to try and control his pain and when he opened them he saw hongjoong staring right back at him. he expected to see a snarly smirk on his face like he usually would but instead he was plain faced and his eyes drifted down to how seonghwa was standing. he quickly fixed his stance, crossing his arms over his chest again and stuck his chin up at the other.

"what's taking you so long?"

hongjoong looked at him for a little bit longer before walking back to his position and tossing the ball back to seonghwa who caught it with ease. 

"winner gets to shoot again?" 

"be my fucking guest," seonghwa tossed the ball back to him and once again he zeroed his eyes on the target, the pain in his ankle making a very brief appearance as he shook his head, he caught hongjoong looking down at his ankle again before he quickly cut off to the right side and seonghwa did his absolute best to chase after him, but the first step he took had him stumbling and nearly falling over but catching himself and hopping on one foot. seonghwa cursed himself, his adrenaline high in his blood as he wanted to punch his ankle for making him look this weak and bad in front of both his team and hongjoong. hongjoong picked up his ball and tossed it to san and went over to seonghwa who was cursing under his breath with his hands forming fists.

"hey--"

"get away from me," seonghwa spat angrily at hongjoong as the smaller had placed his hand on his shoulder.

hongjoong just sighed and grabbed seonghwa's arm and swung it over his own shoulders and wrapped his arm around the other's waist, taking the majority of his weight off his right side.

"keep playing, we'll be back," hongjoong called back and he tried his best to pull seonghwa off the court. "stop being so fucking difficult."

"I don't need your help. I'm fine," seonghwa answered, fighting back the tears in his eyes from the pain.

"no you're fucking not. everyone can tell. just behave yourself for once, and stop acting like a child," hongjoong said sternly and seonghwa couldn't find the strength in himself to fight back anymore. 

hongjoong grabbed his bag as they limped off the court and into the bathroom. hongjoong sat seonghwa down on the bench and told him to take his shoe and sock off.

seonghwa looked up at him with a murderous look but still did it anyways. it took him awhile to take it off, trying his best to not show any weakness or pain but he failed miserable. once his sock was off, he mentally cursed again at the worsening color of his ankle. hongjoong squatted down in front of him and took his ankle carefully into his hand and he must've seen the look on seonghwa's face because he smiled softly and loosened his grip.

"I don't want to hurt you. Im training to be a physical trainer," he said softly, carefully rotating the black and blue ankle around. "what happened? this looks absolutely awful..."

"I just rolled it a few weeks ago," he answered, leaning back on his palms and watching the other very closely. if he was being honest he didn't trust the other with his foot, he could twist it or do something worse to make sure he was done for and couldn't play at all. seonghwa held his breath anytime hongjoong moved it around, it didn't matter how gentle the other way being or how soft his hands felt on his skin, he couldn't help but jerk when his fingers pressed into an area that made his nerve endings scream.

"a few weeks ago? there's no way you just rolled it. you probably sprained it pretty damn badly. did you take time off to let it heal?" and there was that question seonghwa knew he would ask, and he narrowed his eyes at the other. he was a little ashamed of himself for not taking care of it like he needed to, but these circumstances were different. he didn't have time to rest and fall behind the others when this was his last year.

hongjoong seemed to already know the answer to his question just by the heavy silence that had filled the empty bathroom. he looked up at the taller and furrowed his eyes.

"you know by doing this you might have just killed your chances on being able to play, seonghwa your ankle is completely fucked."

"you wouldn't understand."

"what's that supposed to mean? I love basketball just as much as you do, it isn't about that."

"yes it is!" seonghwa barked at him, leaning forward to get back into the other's face. "its more than that. you never had to fight for your positions, just born fucking talented while the rest of us had to work our asses off just to make the line up! not only that, but I looked up to you but you were so fucking cocky and full of yourself that I grew to hate you because of it!"

hongjoong didn't move back at all, he stayed right where he was with a plain look on his face.

"and it makes me so fucking mad that no matter how hard I worked I could never beat you! pisses me off!" seonghwa nearly growled, eyes and blood burning hot within himself as he suppressed his desire to punch the other right across his face. "and here I am now, finally at the top of my game and at nationals none the less, with my last chance ever to beat you! you don't fucking understand! I worked so damn hard for this to just baby a little injury and have you of all people tell me to take it easy. just shut the hell up because you have no idea what this is like."

he was seething and panting heavily when he finally shut his mouth, his look was so fierce that he would've been scared of himself if he had walked in to see this. his heart was racing so fast he felt like he needed to punch something and the wall was looking rather appetizing. hongjoong remained still for awhile again, no real emotion on his face as he let the other calm down trying his best not to escalate the situation. he gently moved to grab seonghwa's ankle again after a few minutes of just listening to him breathe and reached into his bag to pull out prewrap and tape. he carefully started wrapping up the other's ankle in prewrap and looking up at him as he held it in place.

"I blew out my knee second year of university. I couldn't play for the rest of that year and half of the next," he started softly and he gently manuveered his ankle around carefully, pulling the tape out and taping him up. "before then, I really hated you and honestly I hated basketball too. I hated how especially you were so eager to learn in the camps and how you always tried your best even when you were ready to pass out. It made me so angry to see you love something so much that I was supposed to love."

seonghwa kept silent for the first time that night, staring down at the other, finally letting him have full control over his ankle. he swallowed thickly and felt his anger simmer down just a little bit at the unfortunately comforting touch. 

"I made it my goal to beat you every day and every game we played because I hated your guts so much, and it got worse and worse because you improved so much so quickly that it got harder and harder to beat you and that left me feeling helpless. it got to the point where I became so selfish, I ignored my team and did everything myself, and coach let me too which was the sad part. when we were playing in the semi finals tournament that year, the last game i was so tired from trying to do it all myself and be the reason we won all the time that the last shot I took, was such a selfish shot that I had no business taking, was blocked and I landed badly on my knee and it just snapped."

seonghwa just sat there silently, he would've thought that he would be overjoyed in hearing of the misfortune of his long enemy because he had gotten what he deserved after all these years and it served him right. but he finds himself not feeling joy at all, he's not sure what he feels but its not joy. he bites his lip and hongjoong tightens up the tape around his ankle to add more support, the other muttering a soft "sorry".

"it was so bad that I needed to be carried off of court, the embarrassment I felt from that alone compares to nothing I've ever felt before. we lost that game too, that year we didn't go to nationals and it was entirely my fault, it was a hard pill to swallow and I didn't for such a long time. it wasn't until after I had the surgery and couldn't walk properly and had lost all the muscle in my leg that I finally knew what it was like to be completely helpless in a situation. all I could do was watch my teammates practice, and what was worse is I could see just how good they were, without me. they had chemistry that I never even tried to have with them and it was a huge punch to the gut. rehab was hard too, the pain was unforgivable and a few times I just quit it all together," he finished taping up seonghwa's ankle and inspected it for any places that might have need to be redone.

"but I started watching your games online and forever reason it motivated me to keep working to get myself back to where I used to be. it was really then that I realized how much I did love the sport and how bad it hurt to not be able to play it anymore. when I was finally able to get back on the court to slowly start getting back into it, I felt a new appreciation for it and for my teammates. I think the defining moment for me was when I apologized to them for how I was behaving and instead of laughing at me and pushing me away, they welcomed me back with open arms, especially san. but I had to work so hard, i had to learn to trust my knee again and learn how to move and catch up on a year and a half of new plays and experience... it was humbling to say in the least," this was the first time he saw a soft smile on the other's face, like he was talking about something he absolutely adored. 

"so when you say that I don't get it, I do in a way. our experiences have been very different but our drive has been the same since we were younger. I mean it when I say that a lot has changed since the last time we met," hongjoong leaned back and brought his knee forward and pulled his basketball shorts up his thigh to show his giant scar on his knee. he ran his finger over it and seonghwa felt a urge to touch it too.

"I don't hate you anymore. I get it now, having to fight for your position and also having to prove yourself time and time again to your teammates that you do see them. in fact I really admire you, you're always want I wanted to be as a captain but was too selfish to let my pride go. and now I know what its like to have an injury that fucks up everything."

"this is my last year. i won't be going on to play professional like you. these are the last games that i will ever have on an official team," his voice was now soft, no longer yelling at hongjoong and having found himself hunching his back over, a more vulnerable position that he usually was never caught in. 

hongjoong pressed his lips together in a fine line and for the first time, seonghwa saw pity in his eyes.

"don't you dare pity me."

"I'm not."

"I can see it in your eyes. I don't need this right now."

"I know seonghwa. you just look how I felt that day I hurt myself. I'm not saying you're weak by any means, most people would've called it quits with an ankle like that."

"would you?"

"no," hongjoong admits, "especially not if I was playing you for the last time tomorrow morning."

"so you understand me then. I don't see why you're lecturing me when you would do the same thing. you're a hypocrite," there was no venom to his words, even though he brought his hands up to cross over his chest, his word were now more teasing than anything. 

"its because I know just how similar we really are, that I know you'll push yourself so hard until something worse will happen."

"I'll deal with that when I come to it then."

he sees hongjoong sigh and look at up him and shakes his head with a soft smile and seonghwa can't find a reason to be mad at him in this moment. he wants so desperately to hate the man squatted before him, his fire and passion being heavily based on his hatred and competitiveness to beat him. but now that he's actually gotten to know him a little, against his will really, he hates that he finds himself relating to him, shaking his head in understanding and dare he say it, feeling sorry for him?

at the back of his mind he still feels hongjoong's hand on the back of his calf, squeezing him gently there and releasing the muscle ever so softly. it becomes a little distracting the more he does it, not really understanding why the man is still touching him but he also can't find himself hating his gentle touch. he just tilts his head to the side and leans his head on his own shoulder.

"you'll never beat me if you don't take proper care of yourself seonghwa," he adds softly, moving his hand up to his knee and resting it there, brushing his thumb very slightly over his skin. "self care is important."

and there it is again, wooyoung's words ringing in his head and the images of his failed attempt to get off because of the man in front of him, how convenient. and of course he's still squatted between his own legs, and he knows hongjoong meant his words in a very wide sense, but he's been on edge every since the previous night and his young brain still can't seem to control itself. he feels his palms starts to sweat some, feeling clammy to the touch and what the fuck that's never happened before? he wipes his hands on his shorts and resumes his previous position, trying his best to shake those images from his brain. now is not the time.

hongjoong finally moves to grab an instant ice pack out of his bag and breaks it up over his knee, which once again if it was anyone else, seognhwa would have found it insanely attractive. he did not find the other attractive, there was no way in hell. he always scowled whenever his teammates would woo over hongjoong when they watched him play on their phones in the corner of the locker room. he would rather be caught dead and naked in a ditch than admit that the young man in front of him, still kneeling between his legs, pressing the ice pack to his ankle and wrapping a bandage around it to keep it from falling off, was handsome. 

because he wasn't. 

obviously. 

"you're good to go. you need to stay off of that as much as possible, I'll help you walk back to your room," he finally stands up and runs his hand through his blue hair and then shakes his head free and looks down at the other. 

seonghwa feels small under his gaze, even after spilling his story to him, hongjoong still holds himself with such confidence and caries himself like he knows he's the shit. its annoyingly hot. he still hasn't moved at all from the bench, swallowing thickly as he sees the other's hand stretched out to him.

"I'll have yeosang walk me back, we should go anyways." 

he still doesn't move though, holding his breath heavy in his chest when he follows hoongjoong's eyes that glance up and down his body.

"they're still playing, let them have fun for tonight."

"they should be sleeping and preparing for tomorrow."

"stop being so uptight."

"stop being so cocky, arrogant and confident, it's annoying as fuck."

"oh?" and it's the way that the word spills from his lips, so soft and teasing that is has Seonghwa's stomach twist in a knot. "confident you say?"

"you forgot cocky and arrogant."

but hongjoong ignored his words and raised an eyebrow at the other, his smirk making its way back to his lips as he squared himself towards the other, bringing his hand back and placing it on his hip. he ran his eyes over the other's sitting form again before meeting his eyes. the atmosphere was so thick it was hard to breath and silence was absolutely deafening for the few seconds that neither man chose to speak. there seemed to be a barrier between the two of them that neither of them were sure it was even okay to cross, but seonghwa could swear he felt some sort of heat radiating off of the other or was it just himself? he shifted a bit under his gaze, feeling annoyed that the other was looking at him... like that.

"what's wrong with you?" 

"just looking at you."

"yeah I can fucking see that," seonghwa snapped, breaking eye contact first. what a coward he's become. "take a picture, it'll last longer." 

"you've got quite a dirty mouth on you, you go around kissing people with that?"

seonghwa swallowed harshly, taken completely aback by the other's words. the smirk on his face grew even larger and seonghwa just wanted to rip it off his face and claw it to shreds. cocky bastard. he had lost his train of thought, he usually was so good with comebacks but now his brain was blank and he was sitting there with his mouth open. 

"that's what I thought, all bark and no bite. park seonghwa you have not changed a bit," he cooed at him. cooed. how dare he. 

seonghwa shot up from the bench and grabbed hongjoong's shirt once again in his fist and pulled the man closer to him, close enough to feel his breath on his own skin, and no he didn't shiver at that.

"you do not know who you are talking to, watch your mouth." he nearly growled at him, speaking through gritted teeth.

it took him by surprise when hongjoong grabbed seonghwa's shirt with both hands and shoved him backwards to sit back on the bench and stood right in between his legs and nearly had his forehead pressed against his own. 

"I see the way you look at me. can't keep your eyes off of me, especially back then, always was watching me and every little thing that I did. just admit you're obsessed with me," his voice was much deeper and he spoke so smoothly it left him broken out in goosebumps and it infuriated him to no end.

"I'd rather die."

"you need to be taught some manners. i take you here to fix up your ankle because you're too proud to do it yourself and this is how you repay me? hm?" the more he talks the more seonghwa finds himself looking at the other's lips. they look so soft and full, its disgusting really. he feels his heart get caught in his throat as his brain is taking way too long to process such words and be able to produce a simple sentence himself. what the hell is happening?

"and I see the way you've been undressing me with your eyes. you may not know it yourself, but this whole time you've been looking at me with those bedroom eyes," he's whispering now, causing seonghwa to shiver as he feels the other's breath against his ear as he shuts his eyes closed. "you hide behind your cold front you put on, but i know deep down its just an act. I see the way you look at my lips and lick your own."

seonghwa opens his eyes again and turns his head to look directly at the other. had he really licked his own lips? 

"just admit you're infatuated with me."

hongjoong moves one hand from his shirt and moves it to grab a fistful of seonghwa's hair and pulls it gently to the side. his smirk is cheap and he knows exactly what seonghwa is thinking and it makes him feel so exposed and so damn small. his heart skips a beat and feels his cheeks grow hot and just maybe do his eyes close ever so slightly to focus at the oh so wonderful feeling of his hair being pulled. he sees hongjoong's eyes glance down to his lips and then bites his own as he looks back up at seonghwa's eyes and he suppresses the urge to lick them again. the air had grown even thicker and it was impossible to breathe and when hongjoong pushed his forehead against seonghwa's, he shivered and closed his eyes, breathing heavily for no reason. he just knew the other was so pleased with himself, he probably was going to pull away to laugh at just how desperate seonghwa looked just from the very little that he did. 

but his pride was something that was still stuck in the way, refusing to absolutely lose once again to this man that was towering over him having absolutely all the control in this moment. he was just oozing confidence and the only reason seonghwa still had some sort of sanity left in this thick cloud of sexual tension was the fact that the smaller was blushing too.

"so are you gonna fucking kiss me or what loser?" he gritted out, training his eyes up to challenge the other.

hongjoong quirked his eyebrow up in the way that seonghwa absolutely hated and looked down at his lips again before stepping over the bench and sitting down right onto seonghwa's lap. the added pressure made his head swirl, mind blanking again. his hand never left his hair and seonghwa's hand was still on his shirt, pulling him closer.

"should've asked sooner."

seonghwa nearly snarled and decided he wasn't going to give hongjoong the satisfaction of stealing the first kiss. he leaned forward and pushed his lips harshly against the other's who was waiting patiently for them. at first touch he nearly whined at how soft his lips were, and just how good they felt on his. they were wet which made his brain fog over more as their heads tilted to the side to slot their lips together perfectly. he wrapped his arms around the back of his neck and pulled the smaller man closer to him and he felt him smirk against his lips as how desperate he was acting. 

kissing hongjoong was relieving. being pressed up against the man made arousal bubble up inside him as hongjoong bit down on his lip and pulled outwards before letting go and diving back in. he tasted how he expected him too, not really a taste but it was sweet, it felt right. seognhwa had kissed quite a few people in his life, but none was as energetic and enthusiastic as hongjoong was. hongjoong knew how to pull his hair perfectly and knew how to slide his tongue in and coax soft moans out of the older. he even knew how to drag both his hands down his chest and stomach and right back up to rest on hand at the bottom of his throat and even just the idea of what that meant had seonghwa spinning out of control.

their make out was messy. teeth and tongue were everywhere, hands groping and pulling at each other's hair and shirts to just ground themselves on something while they got lost in the tension that was snapping. hongjoong made the first move downwards, pressing his palm to the side of his neck as he pressed kisses to the other side. he nipped at the skin there, then rolling his tongue out and sucking the skin into his mouth that was right under his jaw. seonghwa's mouth fell open, thankfully no sounds came out, just panting for air and gasping every now and then when hongjoong sucked on his skin just perfectly. 

it was when hongjoong rolled his hips downwards onto seonghwa's that he nearly jumped and the mewl that passed his lips was so sensual that it caused hongjoong to shiver on top of him. hongjoong pulled away from his neck and looked down at seonghwa again, looking straight into his eyes as he rolled his lips down once again and it left seonghwa dropping his head, chin to chest as he tried his best to contain himself. he felt a hand lift his chin and soon the sweet pair of lips where back on his as he inhaled his scent, oh the scent was so intoxicating it should have been illegal for him to smell like that. 

hongjoong kept rolling his hips down onto soenghwa's crotch and at some point they just stopped kissing each other, instead just panting into each other's mouths as the pleasure tingled down their spines. seonghwa had his hands on hongjoong's chest, squeezing around and absolutely drooling over how well he had filled out. hongjoong snuck a hand between their bodies and pushed it against seonghwa's crotch and palmed him with a decent amount of pressure that had him biting his lip so hard to keep quite. the thought occurred to him that they are indeed in a public bathroom, one that anyone could walk into at any moment.

that worry was washed away when hongjoong dipped his hand into seonghwa's shorts and felt him rub his hand against his aching cock and he slapped a hand over his mouth to muffle the sound that was about to make its way out. 

"so so pretty seonghwa, so pretty," he whispered, his breathing was labored too as he did not stop any movements at all, eyes trained down between their two bodies as he wrapped his hand around his cock. seonghwa leaned his head into the other's shoulder, breathing heavily against his sweaty skin as he shivered and hummed at the other's words.

"so hot like this, absolutely destroyed from a little touching," he makes another comment. he shifts around just a little, much to seonghwa's dismay. he reaches into his own shorts and slides them down just enough to pull out his own cock that was just as hard and leaking as seonghwa's was. the sight of it made him drool, he was definitely well endowed, beautifully thick and when he pressed them together and was able to wrap his hand around them both, he couldn't stop the cry that left his mouth as he bit onto the smaller's shoulder. he watched hongjoong stroke them both, their precum was plenty enough to help the slide of his hand. he could feel the other throbbing against him and seognhwa grabbed onto hongjoong's arm, moaning softly as he felt the muscle present there and for a split moment he thought that hongjoong was probably strong enough to hold him against a wall.

that thought had pleasure surging though his body, breath becoming even more unstable and he continues to watch his hand move quickly. his hand feels so good on him and he can feel hongjoong's heart racing against his cheek. 

"bet you wish I was fucking you instead. don't you?" he spoke suddenly, his nose was scrunched up and his eyebrows furrowed as sweat started dripping down his forehead. "holding you against that wall and filling you up, bet you want that don't you?"

the words the gorgeous and sweaty man spoke were just so dirty. everything was just so much and seoghwa's head was just so clouded and fuck it feels too good. the wet sounds that he's making supplied by the soft gasps and grunts that leave hongjoong's mouth are just so hot and sinful that he needs to kiss him again to capture them for himself. the pleasure that was building was so high and he felt like he's ready to burst. his heart was racing so fast and breathing so heavily that he looks like he just played an entire game but instead he's completely fallen apart by his enemy's hand and skillful lips.

it takes him by complete surprise when he cums. usually he feels it coming but this time he was so over stimulated by everything that it hits him out of left field and he gasping and moaning into hongjoong's mouth. he digs his nails into the other's arms and he knows he broke the skin and thrusts his hips up into his hand as he does. the sheer blinding pleasure completely engulfs him, body shaking uncontrollably as hongjoong is still indeed kissing him and stroking him through it. he kisses his cheeks and then nips at his bottom lip again and seonghwa honestly must've been out of it for a minute or two because by the time he comes to, he sees hongjoong's blissed out and relaxed face. he sees cum all over his hand and he knows that the other practically came with him. once he manages to catch his breath just a little more, he leans forward and captures the other shaking man's lips and kisses him until they both come down. 

the kiss isn't as ferocious as it was a few minutes ago, they aren't biting each other's lips with grunts and growls. no seonghwa thinks its oddly domestic and sickeningly romantic the way he kisses hongjoong, so soft and gentle. 

the next few moments flash by in a haze, they clean up together without even speaking a word, but the looks they give each other are softer and so are the touches. hongjoong helps seonghwa take off the ice pack as it has long been thawed and puts back on his shoe as they gather their stuff to go back to their rooms. the gym is empty when they walk out, not even surprised that his friends left him there to die all alone but he does thank the heavens that they did not come to check on him. hongjoong takes him to his room, no matter how many times seonghwa told him that he didn't need to, but hongjoong never did like listening to him. 

seonghwa confidently pulls him in for a kiss, biting him on the bottom lip and pulling it out before releasing it just like the latter had done to him earlier. he watched his pupil dilate before sending him a wink. 

both men turned their attention to a door that creaked open just down the hallway, that happened to be the room wooyoung was staying in and out walked san who's hair definitely had seen better days and a still light blush settled on his cheeks. he saw both hongjoong and seonghwa and gave them a knowing and sheepish smile before flashing them a thumbs up before making his way back to his own room. 

the pair just chuckled a little and shook their heads before seonghwa lightly punched hongjoong's shoulder and told him to get to bed already. 

~~~ 

the fan's screaming and the camera's flashing was nothing they weren't used to. the volume had dramatically increased of course from the sheer size of the stadium, but it only spurred their adrenaline on more. seonghwa knew his team was ready for a fight, just how intimidating they looked and whether or not that was just a show for the camera crew that would be broadcasting this game, didn't really matter.

seonghwa's pep talk had been very short, "just do your absolute best and no matter what happens, I'll be proud of you."

his teammates looked around at each other and then broke out into big smiles before they hit the court to do their warm ups and get into their game mindset. seonghwa would occasionally look over to the other side as he adjusted his headband to keep his black hair out of his face to spot a certain blue haired man. said man would always find his gaze and send him a wink that made his heart flutter.

but he would never admit that.

when warm ups were over and the refs called the two captains over to shake hands, seonghwa playfully squeezed his hand really tight and watched hongjoong's eyes bulge. 

and when they all took their respective positions on the court, seonghwa smiling softly at yeosang, mingi and wooyoung, giving them and the rest of his teammates a thumbs up, he took his spot in the middle of the court with hongjoong for jump ball.

"may the best team win," seonghwa said with an evil smile.

"oh we intend to," hongjoong replied, giving the same look back to seonghwa as they turned their attention to the ref who had placed the ball between them.

before they got to their rooms last night, seonghwa made it very clear to hongjoong that if the other played easier against him just because of his injury, he would hate him for life. hongjoong had just chuckled and said that he would never, if they win it will be because they were the better team and played their hardest. he wasn't going to take more of seonghwa's dignity than he already had. 

the reporters had interviewed him when he walked into the gym that morning before that game and asked him how he felt about playing against hongjoong for the last time. clearly their rivalry was very popular, but seonghwa gave them his game expression like he always did, so professional and said, "it was bound to happen some day. while hongjoong will be going on to play professional, I'll be retiring. that just means I'll be playing against him way harder than I normally would. we're here to take this game."

his ankle was doing a little better and he prayed he could get through the full game and still play to the best of his abilities. when the ref tossed the ball into the air and both men jumped up to reach for it, seonghwa had decided that he would be perfectly content with either turn out of the game, as long as both teams played their hardest.

when his fingers touched the ball to push it forward to wooyoung, he knew he had finally made peace with himself and hongjoong, and could finally enjoy their last game together.

**Author's Note:**

> finished this at 3am omg, its so long im sorry, anyways lemme know what yall think <3 I really based this off of my own experience with playing with injuries at nationals with different sports so this one hit home


End file.
